Psalter.

Without exaggeration, one can say that the book of Psalms, or the Psalter, is, for a Christian,

the most important book in the Old Testament. The Psalter is a book of prayers for every occa-

sion: when in grief, in a hopeless situation or in fear, in distress, in the tears of repentance and in

the  joy of consolation, in thankfulness and in just praising the Creator. St. Ambrose of Milan

writes thus: “The grace of God breathes in all of the Scripture, but especially in the sweet song

of the book of Psalms.”

  The title of the book derives from the Greek psalo which means to play a stringed musical

instrument. King David was the first to accompany the singing of his divinely inspired prayers

with playing a musical instrument called psalterion which resembled a harp. The Jews call this

book Tehillim, meaning praises.

  The  Psalter  was  being  composed  for  over 8 centuries, starting with Moses (1500 BC) to

Ezra and Nehemiah (400 BC), and contains 150 psalms. King David was the first major contribu-

tor to the book. He wrote over 80 psalms.more than any other single writer. Besides the psalms

of David, the book contains 1 psalm of Moses (90th),  3  psalms  of  Solomon  (72nd, 127th and

132nd), 12 psalms of Asaph the seer and his descendants, 1 psalm of Eman (88th), 1 of Epham

(89th), 11 psalms of the sons of Korah. Authorship of the other psalms is unknown. The psalms

are written according to the rules of Hebrew poetry and are amazingly beautiful and powerful.

  At the beginning of a psalm we often find a brief note that indicates the psalm.s content. It

may be a prayer, a psalm of praise, or a teaching psalm. Sometimes these notes indicate the po-

etic method used in the  psalm,  e.g.  the writing,  i.e.  epigrammatic  psalm.  Others  indicate  the

method of performing, e.g. psalm is to be accompanied by playing the psalterion, song is sung

vocally, some psalms are accompanied by other musical instruments, and sometimes the instru-

ments are changed as the psalm is performed. Some psalms begin with a few words from another

song, the performance of which is similar to the performance of the given psalm.something like

the similars (podobny) in church services.

  The content of the psalms is closely related to the life of the righteous king David. David

was  born  a  thousand  years  before  the  birth of Christ in Bethlehem and was the youngest son

among the many children of a poor shepherd named Jesse. Having become the king in Jerusalem

after the death of King Saul, King David became the greatest of all the kings that would ever rule

over Israel. He had a combination of character traits so valuable for a good king: the love for the

people, justice, wisdom, courage and, most importantly, strong faith in God. David himself was

often in charge of religious celebrations, offering sacrifices to God on behalf of the Jewish people

and singing psalms.

  The poetic beauty and the depth of religious feelings found in the psalms of David inspired

numerous later psalm writers. Therefore, even though not  all  of  the  psalms  were  written  by

David, yet fair is the common name of the book of psalms: The Psalter of King David.

Importance of the Psalter in Divine Services.

  The Psalter contains many thoughts and words addressed to one.s own soul, words of in-

struction  and  of  consolation.  Therefore  it is no surprise that the Psalter is so widely used in

prayer. Starting with the Old Testament times, every single divine service uses psalms. Psalms

were first used when offering daily sacrifices, and on sabbaths and feasts. David introduced the

use of musical instruments when singing psalms. These were harp, tympanum, psalter, cymbal,

trumpet and others. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed with the words of psalms. Thus, after the Last

Supper, He sang as He was going up to the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). Following the exam-

ple  of Jesus Christ and the apostles, the Church of the early centuries often used Psalter for

prayer (Eph. 5:19, Col. 3:16, 1 Cor. 14:26). To make reading of the Psalter during divine services

more convenient, it was divided into 20 parts called kathismas (kathizo is the Greek for sit).

  Now the Psalter is fully christianized. This means that the Church assigns Christian mean-

ing to all sayings of the Psalter, while the Old Testament meaning is of secondary importance.

The  words  .raise, Lord.  found in the psalms remind us of Christ.s resurrection. Words about

captivity are understood as referring to the captivity of sin. The names of nations hostile to Israel

are  taken to mean  spiritual enemies, and the name Israel means the people of the Church. The

call to exterminate the enemies is the call to fight our passions. Salvation out of Egypt and Baby-

lon is the salvation in Christ. Here is a list of psalms used in divine services:

During Matins: at the beginning: 20, 21, Exapsalmos (i.e. The Six Psalms; Russian: Shestopsalmiye

): 3, 38, 63, 88, 103, 143. Before canon: 51. Psalms of praise: 148, 149, 150.

During the Hours: 1st Hour: 5, 90, 101. 3rd Hour: 17, 25, 51. 6th Hour: 54, 55, 91. 9th Hour:

84, 85, 86.

During Vespers: The beginning psalm: 104, .Blessed is the man:. 1, .Lord, I cry unto

Thee:. 141, 142, 130, 117, at the end of the service: 34.

During Liturgy: 103, 146.

(Note: the psalms listed here are according to their numbering in the King James version of the

Bible. The Septuagint numbering differs slightly.)

To help the reader find the psalms that correspond to his specific prayerful disposition, we offer

the following list of psalms according to their content:

Psalms of thanksgiving and praise: 34, 66, 67, 92, 96, 97, 103, 104, 117, 146, 149, 150.

Praising God: 8, 18, 93, 103, 104.

Instructional: 1, 41, 33, 46, 85, 90, 101, 112, 127.

Pouring out grief: 3, 13, 17, 38, 55, 88, 142, 143.

Expressing trust in God: 54, 86, 91, 112, 121.

Asking God.s protection against enemies and trouble: 3, 4, 25, 41, 55, 70, 143.

Psalms of repentance: 39, 51.

Expressing joy: 33, 84, 115.